Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1887-04-18
Man And Wife.

have been given 10 man i'm the Garden
of Eden has not vet been fully written.
All ancient history is masculine--a
mere record of the thoughts and acts
of men. Women filled n place SO
low and degraded as to be thought
unworthy of mention in the chroni-
cles of those olden times. II is only
at wide intervals we find a bright
spot i'm which her deeds and services
receive honorable mention; as, for
instance, the story of Penelope, Lu-
cretia and Aspasia. The Spartan
mothers and the mother of the
Gracchi, who repressed every sign
of grief when their children were
slain in battle, and the courage Of
Porcia or ARIA, are only noticed be-
cause they broke away from the
thrall of their sex and displayed the
heroic daring and fortitude Of brave,
strong, warlike men.
The bible is a masculine book.
Not one of the 60 books that COM
pose it was written by woman. In
the Old Testament times men bought
and sold their wives as they did their
cattle. Jacob purchased Leah and
Rachel, and, according TO Homer,
the custom was common among the
Greeks. Religion had but little use
for her, only as scape-goat, TO
bear the sins of the race. It was
the woman Eve who ate the forbidden
fruit. 1t was the idle curisoity of
the woman Pandora who opened the
box and let out all the woes and dis
eases of humanity. Many Of the
gravest philosophers of antiquity
seriously doubted whether she had
an immortal soul. 1t is still car
dinal doctrine of Mohammedanism.
One would think that the ideal of
glory the church wove into an aure-
ole around the head of the Virgin
Mary for so many centuries would
have tended largely to the elevation
of women. But all through the
Middle Ages, the chef excellence it
wrought out for her was that OF
meek, demure devotee OF religion.
who believed in wearing the veil Of
solitude as the only means of beau
tiication. Under the old common
law she had but few rights above
that of a slave. The widow was
called the relict Of the dead husband,
and was provided for as a part of
the inventoried estate. The law Of
descent favored the male issue. IL
10 tho ohiof glory of orr era that II
has slowly but surely made vast
progress in the advancement of
women to her proper place in the
social and political world.
But after all that has been said
and done, some traces of the eXclu-
sively masculine element may still
be found in the usual marriage for
mula. The man is asked TO love,
honor and cherish his wife the
woman is asked 10 obey her husband.
Obedience is her prime duty, and
love and honor are expected as
secondary qualities. OF course every
bride smiles inwardly at this archaic
language and interprets il in a Pick
wickian sense, but the formal accept
ance of this offensive clause in the
marriage service places her in
wrong position, and it should be ex-
plunged. Still more Objectionable is
this clause Of the marriage service,
"Who giveth this woman TO be mar
ried to this man - What, is she
chattel to be decided away, thing
to be handed over from one TO anoth-
er or delivered by a sort OF bill OF
sale, a mere helpless dependent
transferred from one proprietor 10
another?
What else can be made Of il, and
what is this but a relic Of what in the
ancient Roman law was known as the
perpetual tutelage Of woman The
phrase, 81 pronounce you man and
wife," is equally offensive. II is all
right as 10 the women, because II
does not pronounce her merely a
''Woman," but a wife. But what j.
there in merely calling a man a man
that transforms him into husband !
Suppose the officiating clergyman
should say, II pronounce you man
and woman, male and female, Mr.. |
and Mrs, or lord and lady" strictly |
speaking, it is not apparent that be
has placed them under any new con-
tract. To make the contract recip- /
rocal be should have said, ~ pro-
Dounce you husband aud wife"
This marriage formula came in vogue
when women was not regarded a. an
equal in the family partnership, bat
as a meek, silent, passive subordi-
nate.
There Is still a grave objection in
a minister OF magistrate pronouneing
two persons man and wife or even
husband and wife. The law vests
no such power ia the officiating per
son, bat only 10 draw out from the
parties an expression of mutual con-
sent which II the essence Of the con-
tract, and having done 80, - an-
thOritatiyely attest o. witness IL, 4
either IN the name Of the church on
tbe state, az may seem best. The T.
act j. the act Of the parties, and the /
pArsOn or magistrate has nothing